My family was very skeptical when I said that I was making Red Beans and Rice for dinner (read: they were complaining). This quick dish changed their minds! It was delicious.
I did add extra bacon (because I had it on hand), which may have improved the flavor, but I don’t think that it was necessary. I used Trader Joe’s jarred roasted red peppers and fire roasted jalapeños instead of the Peppadew peppers and pickled jalapeño.
We ate it with brown Basmati rice. The recipe instructs to top the beans with a mound of rice- I thought that it was more aesthetically pleasing served over the rice. 🙂 This recipe was adapted from Food and Wine.
- 4 ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 inner celery rib, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pickled jalapeño or jarred fire roasted jalapeños, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped Peppadew peppers or jarred roasted red peppers, plus more for garnish
- two 15-ounce cans red kidney beans
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth
- coarse salt
- freshly ground pepper
- rice, for serving (I used brown Basmati rice)
- parsley, for garnish
- In a large saucepan, cook the bacon over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion, celery, garlic, pickled jalapeño and 1/4 cup of peppers and cook, stirring, until softened, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the beans with their liquid and the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
- Simmer over moderate heat until the liquid is slightly reduced, 8 minutes. Season the beans with salt and pepper.
- Mound rice in each serving dish and ladle the beans over the top. Garnish with chopped parsley or more peppers, as desired, and serve right away.
thebrookcook 